Ingenol-3-angelate (PEP005, ingenol mebutate) is a protein kinase C activator in phase III clinical development for the treatment of actinic keratosis. The drug candidate is also in phase II trials for non-melanoma skin cancer [Ogbourne, S. M.; Anti-cancer Drugs, (2007), 18, 357-62].
The compound ingenol-3-angelate (PEP005) [Saved, M. D. et. al.; Experienta, (1980), 36, 1206-1207] can be isolated from various Euphorbia species, and particularly from Euphorbia peplus [Hohmann, J. et. al; Planta Med., (2000), 66, 291-294] and Euphorbia drummondii by extraction followed by chromatography as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,449,492. According to this procedure, extraction of 17 kg of fresh Euphorbia peplus affords 7 g of a crude oil, which subsequently must be purified by HPLC to afford pure ingenol-3-angelate. The purification method is not ideally suited for larger scale production, as chlorophyll, which otherwise would co-migrate with ingenol-3-angelate, must be removed from the extract before the final purification step. Thus, the yield of ingenol-3-angelate by extraction from Euphorbia peplus and subsequent chromatography is extremely low. Therefore an alternative process for the production of ingenol-3-angelate which is also suitable for larger scale production would be desirable.
Ingenol is a natural product which is easily extracted from the readily available seeds of Euphorbia lathyris [Appendino, G. et. al., J. Nat. Prod. (1999), 62, 76-79]. As part of the extraction procedure the various ingenol esters present are hydrolysed and thus the amount of isolated ingenol is increased, making ingenol more readily available than ingenol-3-angelate [Appendino, G. et. al., J. Nat. Prod. (1999), 62, 76-79; Girin, M. A. et. al., J. Chromatogr., (1993), 637, 206-208].
Ingenol or ingenol esters may also be found in other Euphorbia species, for example ingenol or ingenol esters have also been found in E. acrurensis, E. antiquorum, E. biglandulosa, E. canariensis, E. cooped, E. cotinifolia, E. deightonii, E. desmondi, E. drupifera, E. ebracteolata, E. esula, E. helioscopia, E. hermentiana, E. iberica, E. ingens, E. jolkini, E. kamerunica, E. kansui, E. leuconeura, E. matabelensis, E. megalantha, E. millii, E. myrsinites, E. nematocypha, E. nubica, E. palustris, E. peplus, E. petiolata, E. pilosa, E. quadrialata, E. quinquecostata, E. resinifera, E. royleana, E. seguieriana, E. serrata, E. sieboldiana, E. tirucalli, E. triangularis, E. trigona. 
Furthermore, ingenol is commercially available, for example from LC Laboratories, 165 New Boston Street, Woburn, Mass. 01801, USA.
Ingenol has previously been used as a starting point for the semi-synthetic preparation of ingenol-3-esters [Sorg, B. et. al, Z. Naturforsch., (1982), 37B, 748-756] and ingenol-3-ester derivatives [Appendino et. al., Eur. J. Org. Chem. (1999), 3413; Opferkuch et. al., Naturforschung, (1981), 36B, 878]. However, the preparation of ingenol-3-angelate and ingenol-3-angelate derivatives from ingenol has not been described. The preparation of angelate esters is not straightforward as angelic acid and angelate esters are prone to isomerisation of the double bond to form the tiglate ester, both with and without the presence of base [Beeby, P., Tetrahedron Lett. (1977), 38, 3379-3382, Hoskins, W. M., J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. 1, (1977), 538-544, Bohlmann, F. et. al., Chem. Ber. (1970), 103, 561-563]. Furthermore, ingenol derivatives are known to degrade in the presence of acid [Appendino et. al., Eur. J. Org. Chem. (1999), 3413]. Also, ingenol-3-esters are readily rearranged to afford the ingenol-5-esters and ingenol-20-esters. This is particularly the case for esters of short-chain carboxylic acids [Sorg, B. et. al, Z. Naturforsch., (1982), 37B, 748-756]. The purification method previously described for the purification of ingenol-3-esters to avoid the rearranged side-products [Sorg, B. et. al, Z. Naturforsch., (1982), 37B, 748-756] is not suitable for large scale production of ingenol-3-angelate.